[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63050-63051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25138]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2008-0103; Notice 2]


Chrysler, LLC, Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential 
Noncompliance

    Chrysler, LLC (Chrysler) has determined that certain vehicles that 
it manufactured during the period of March 14, 2006 through March 20, 
2008, do not fully comply with paragraph S4.3 of 49 CFR 571.110 
(Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110 Tire Selection 
and Rims for Motor Vehicles With a GVWR of 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 
Pounds) or Less). Chrysler has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 
49 CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.
    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and the rule 
implementing those provisions at 49 CFR part 556, Chrysler has 
petitioned for an exemption from the notification and remedy 
requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this 
noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Notice of 
receipt of the petition was published, with a 30-day public comment 
period, on June 5, 2008 in the Federal Register (73 FR 32076). No 
comments were received. To view the petition and all supporting 
documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System Web site at: 
http://www.regulations.gov/. Then follow the online search instructions 
to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2008-0103.''
    For further information on this decision, contact Mr. John 
Finneran, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), telephone (202) 366-0645, 
facsimile (202) 366-7097.
    Affected are approximately 1,886 model year 2007-2008 Jeep Wrangler 
right-hand drive (RHD) multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPV).
    Paragraph S4.3 of 49 CFR 571.110 requires in pertinent part that:

    S4.3 Placard. Each vehicle, except for a trailer or incomplete 
vehicle, shall show the information specified in S4.3 (a) through 
(g), and may show, at the manufacturer's option, the information 
specified in S4.3 (h) and (i), on a placard permanently affixed to 
the driver's side B-pillar. In each vehicle without a driver's side 
B-pillar and with two doors on the driver's side of the vehicle 
opening in opposite directions, the placard shall be affixed on the 
forward edge of the rear side door. If the above locations do not 
permit the affixing of a placard that is legible, visible and 
prominent, the placard shall be permanently affixed to the rear edge 
of the driver's side door. If this location does not permit the 
affixing of a placard that is legible, visible and prominent, the 
placard shall be affixed to the inward facing surface of the vehicle 
next to the driver's seating position. This information shall be in 
the English language and conform in color and format, not including 
the border surrounding the entire placard, as shown in the example 
set forth in Figure 1 in this standard. At the manufacturer's 
option, the information specified in S4.3 (c), (d), and, as 
appropriate, (h) and (i) may be shown, alternatively to being shown 
on the placard, on a tire inflation pressure label which must 
conform in color and format, not including the border surrounding 
the entire label, as shown in the example set forth in Figure 2 in 
this standard. The label shall be permanently affixed and proximate 
to the placard required by this paragraph. The information specified 
in S4.3 (e) shall be shown on both the vehicle placard and on the 
tire inflation pressure label (if such a label is affixed to provide 
the information specified in S4.3 (c), (d), and, as appropriate, (h) 
and (i)) and may be shown in the format and color scheme set forth 
in Figures 1 and 2.

    Chrysler stated that the noncompliance is that the required placard 
was installed on the passenger's side (left side) door on each of the 
subject RHD vehicles, rather than on the driver's side (right side) 
door.
    Chrysler explains that the subject vehicles were sold primarily for 
use by rural postal carriers, since RHD makes it easier for the 
carriers to access mailboxes located along the right side of the 
roadway. The relevant portion of S4.3 of FMVSS No. 110, entitled 
``Placard,'' provides as follows: ``Each vehicle, except for a trailer 
or incomplete vehicle, shall show the information specified in S4.3(a) 
through (g) * * * on a placard permanently

[[Page 63051]]

affixed to the driver's side B-pillar. In each vehicle without a 
driver's side B-pillar and with two doors on the driver's side of the 
vehicle opening in opposite directions, the placard shall be affixed on 
the forward edge of the rear side door. If the above locations do not 
permit the affixing of a placard that is legible, visible and 
prominent, the placard shall be permanently affixed to the rear edge of 
the driver's side door.''
    Chrysler further explained that the subject vehicles have placards 
that contain all of the tire and vehicle loading information required 
by the various subsections of S4.3. However, because of an inadvertent 
failure of the assembly plant work instructions to differentiate 
between RHD and left hand drive (LHD) vehicles in this respect, the 
placards were inadvertently affixed to the rear edge of the door on the 
left (passenger) side of the subject vehicles, as opposed to the 
driver's side door. (Chrysler notes that the subject vehicles do not 
have a B-pillar with a flat surface that would permit the affixing of a 
placard that is ``legible, visible, and prominent.'')
    Chrysler states its belief that the fact that the placard required 
by paragraph S4.3 of the standard was affixed to the left hand door of 
these RHD vehicles--as opposed to the driver's side door--creates 
absolutely no risk to motor vehicle safety. All of the relevant tire 
and loading information is set forth on the placard, and therefore it 
is readily available to vehicle operators. Moreover, the placard is 
located at the place where United States drivers are used to looking 
for it.
    Chrysler also states its belief that the operators of the subject 
vehicles will have almost certainly owned and driven conventional LHD 
vehicles, so they will have had experience in locating the tire and 
load information on the left side of their vehicles. And in the 
extremely unlikely event that an owner has difficulty locating the 
placard, the owner's manual provided with the subject vehicles shows 
the location of the placard on the left side door.
    Chrysler also makes reference to several previous inconsequential 
noncompliance grant decisions, involving the omission of rim data on 
tire labels, which in its opinion, are similar to the instant one.
    Chrysler also notes that it has not received any consumer 
complaints regarding an inability to locate the placard or an 
unawareness of the relevant tire and loading information.
    In addition, Chrysler states that it has corrected the problem that 
caused these errors so that they will not be repeated in future 
production and that it believes that because the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety that no corrective action is 
warranted.

NHTSA Decision

    By way of background, the Transportation Recall, Enhancement, 
Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act (Pub. L. 106-414) 
required, among other things, that the agency initiate rulemaking to 
improve consumer awareness of tire inflation pressure and load limit 
information. In 2001, as part of a proposed update to FMVSS No. 110, 
NHTSA proposed in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that ``A 
standard location for tire information placards would contribute to 
consumer awareness of recommended tire inflation pressure and load 
limits by providing a consistent and predictable place for this 
information.'' \1\ In the subsequent final rule, the location required 
for the consistent and predictable location of the labeling information 
is one of three locations allowed on the driver's-side of the vehicle.
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    \1\ See 66 FR 6555, December 19, 2001.
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    NHTSA agrees with Chrysler that this noncompliance will not have an 
adverse effect on vehicle safety. In the agency's judgment, most 
consumers in the United States are accustomed to left-hand drive (LHD) 
vehicles, with tire inflation pressure and load limit information 
labeling located on the left-hand side of the vehicle. Not locating the 
labeling on the driver's-side (right-hand side) for the subject RHD 
vehicles will not appreciably interfere with customer awareness of 
recommended tire inflation pressures and load limits. The agency agrees 
with Chrysler's statement that it is extremely unlikely an owner will 
have difficulty locating the placard in this case.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that Chrysler 
has met its burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 110 
labeling noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 
Accordingly, Chrysler's petition is granted and the petitioner is 
exempted from the obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy 
for, the subject noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: October 16, 2008.
Daniel C. Smith,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E8-25138 Filed 10-21-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P